Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said people concerned that he could buy an election can take heart in hard facts – insisting statistics show it’s just as easy to run a losing campaign if you’re a rich man.

“One of the things to give you comfort, if you’re worried about people buying elections, is that statistics show that wealthy people who self-finance don’t win with any greater frequency than those who have to go out and raise money from others,” he said.

Bloomberg spoke after Bill Clinton cited the billionaire as an example of the need for laws that bridle unlimited self-financed spending.

“Let’s take someone I really admire, the mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg,” Clinton told a crowd in Iowa.

Clinton appeared to have Bloomberg on the brain as he stumped for his wife there over the weekend.

“I like him, he’s a really good mayor,” Clinton said. “If he runs for president, he could spend $1 billion and hardly miss it. That’s real money for most of the rest of us.”